


Two Queers On A Cruise

by candidshot



Series: stories from an alternate universe [23]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec wants to be Magnus's Sugar Daddy, Australia, Bartender!Magnus, Hong Kong, Indonesia, M/M, Malec on a cruise, Sunsets and Dancing and Beers and Billiards, ballet dancer!alec, theme park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-11 16:55:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19113883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candidshot/pseuds/candidshot
Summary: All sorts of strange things get washed ashore.Seashells and broken corals, stones chipped and shaped by the waves, dried fruits, driftwood and many times—“Magnus…”“Um?”“I love you more than all the koalas and kangaroos on the planet”.Or,Let’s just say,Alec and Magnus meet on a cruise.





	Two Queers On A Cruise

Well,

All sorts of strange things get washed ashore.  
  
Seashells and broken corals, stones chipped and shaped by the waves, dried fruits, driftwood and many times—

Or,

Let’s just say,

Alec is on holiday.  
  
After his performance in Beijing, on a whim he just hopped on a cruise to Hong Kong, later deciding that’s how he’ll get back to New York. At first, he thinks it pathetic to be travelling alone, but as he looks out at the messy setting of the sun, he starts to feel free and relieved.  
  
“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?”  
  
Not turning to look at the man who had just spoken, Alec smiles at the swift breeze that’s moving past them and tearing the clouds apart and just so, he awes as the massive water vapour slowly thins into air and leaves nothing but the smudge of purple and orange. To be honest, it isn’t a pretty sunset.  
  
“Really?” he finally turns around and answers, but startles at seeing a man with a flush the colour of summer’s fading sun, “I don’t think so, though”.  
  
The man smiles and replies, “I’m not talking about the sunset”.  
  
“Then what are you—?”  
  
With a handsome curving of his lips the stranger replies, “Let’s keep it a secret till another time”, and as fast as he’d appeared, he leaves Alec standing, somewhat breathless and enchanted.  
  
Alec is no stranger to spending time alone, so on the first evening, he ends up at the bar and orders a Brooklyn Lager.  
  
The bartender laughs and asks, “Long day?”

“How can you tell?”

“Well, you’re at the bar by yourself?” The Bartender flicks the cork off the bottle and places the cold drink in Alec’s reach, “Or are you waiting on company?”

With his heart folded in two for safe keeping, a smile spills from the corner of Alec’s lips and seeps across his face, “As a matter of fact, I think he just showed up”.  

“Is that so?” The bartender looks around but then breaks into a satisfied smile when his eyes find Alec looking back at him. “I don’t do hook ups”.

“That’s even better”, Alec tilts his beer bottle for a toast, “You’re the guy from earlier, aren’t you? I’m Alec”.  
  
The bartender smiles and already, Alec can tell his heart is about to misbehave. “Call me, Magnus”.  
  
“Call you, Magnus or your name is, Magnus?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Is that question rhetorical?”

“Should it be?”

Alec finds himself chuckling, “Okay, you win this round”.  
  
And so it begins;  
  
Alec spends his free time— that is, times when Magnus is hard at work and can’t flirt with him, alternating between swimming in the pool and attempting bouldering. On one or two odd moments he would use the spa or tuck himself away in the library until he knows it’s just about time for Magnus’s break.

“Have you eaten dinner already?” Magnus asks, watching Alec snack on sliced pineapples and nuts at dinnertime.  
  
“I’ll pass today”, Alec answers, “I’m getting a belly so I need to cut back”.  
  
Magnus gives him a good look up and down, “You might be right. I do see something hangin—”

Alec is looking at him wide eyed as though scandalized, “This is when you should tell me I’m already perfect and not to worry about weight”.

“Why should I?” Magnus laughs, leaning over the counter and tugging at Alec’s shirt, “I mean, it’s not like I don’t already like what I see”.

Alec’s tummy rolls with tingling excitement.

.

Two evenings later, Alec finds Magnus glued to the TV set in the bar. His eyes fixed, following a boxing match and he’s so focused that he doesn’t even notice Alec’s presence the instant he usually does.  
  
“Did you bet your life or something?” Alec sits around the counter, trying to make out who— besides him, had taken hold of Magnus’s full attention.

Momentarily, Magnus looks away from the screen, “Everyone did”, he replies, his eyes flitting back to the TV. “This is perhaps the fight of the century”.  
  
“I’ll take your word for it”, Alec answers, pointing to a Belgium beer on the drink menu. It’s not like he’s interested in the match per se but more like, he can’t help wanting to know more about Magnus.  
  
Magnus pours himself a half glass of beer then says, “Then what would you say if I told you that I do some boxing myself? Well, it’s kickboxing but boxing nonetheless”.  
  
Taking a sip of his beer, the idea of a sweaty Magnus in a ring wouldn’t leave his mind and so, without shame his eyes wander up and down the man admiring the veins that run along Magnus’s arms and the size and shape of his Adam’s apple and as if that’s not enough, Alec’s eyes start to trace Magnus’s shoulders that reach across so widely like he could carry a ship on them—  not to mention that even through his bartending uniform, Alec can most certainly trace the shape of Magnus’s nipples… tiny and stiff on a chest that’s hard and firm and with a tummy that’s all sorts of sexy. Alec has to stop himself from mentally stripping the man of his pants.  
  
But he still ponders that perhaps, it’s the constant view of the never-ending sea that’s making him feel like this… very open to love and throwing caution to the wind because somehow, he feels he’s prepared to pay whatever price is offered.  
  
“Show me how good you are, sometime”, Alec tells him, his eyes shiny with excitement and possibilities.  
  
Magnus smiles at him, “I’ll be at the gym tonight from eight till ten”.  
  
Alec can hardly catch his breath. “I’ll be the same old me so try not to get too nervous when you see me”.  
  
So when Alec does show up at the gym, he has a hunch that he’s about to dive into some serious trouble when he sees Magnus sweaty and near shirtless wearing a tank top that’s barely enough to cover his nipples.

Alec, knows for sure he’s in some serious trouble.  
  
.  
  
Every night at 8 o’clock is happy hour, and while not all drinks are free, the passengers, especially the ladies take advantage of the two-for-one cocktail blends.  
  
“Magnus, recommend something sexy for me”, one says, “Even sexier than _you having sex on the beach_ ”.  
  
With the smile of a pro Magnus is quick to answer, “How about an _Orgasm_?”  
  
“What’s in that?” the woman asks, a pretty lady in slack cotton knee length pants, strapless top, her hair knotted in a high ponytail and she’s still pretty even with the minimum dabble of makeup.  
  
“It’s coffee-based”, Magnus replies, showing her a picture of the mix, “But if you prefer wild over sexy, then there’s the _Screaming Orgasm_ ”.  
  
The woman giggles as though already intoxicated but more than that, Magnus makes her the perfect cocktail blend.  
  
“Ever the Mr. Popular, ah?” Alec teases.

Magnus gives Alec a side-grin, “Yes, but unfortunately with the wrong pretty face”.  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
“Exactly how it sounds”, Magnus answers, opening a beer and passing it to Alec, “But never mind, the pretty face I wanted to see just walked in”. Alec looks behind him, his eyes searching, much to Magnus’s entertainment. “Are you really going to play innocent?”  
  
“Play innocent about what?”  
  
And Magnus sighs, “I thought our kind was supposed to be keen on alert with things like this”.  
  
“I really don’t get you”, Alec’s forehead creases.  
  
Magnus quirks an eyebrow, “That closet you’re in is really tightly shut, isn’t it”, he sighs, deciding it best to give up. “So what would you like to drink tonight?”  
  
“What do you recommend?”  
  
Magnus gives another side grin, “How about a _Quick Fuck_?”  
  
.  
  
On one of Alec's aimless walkabouts, he stumbles upon the sound of music filtering from a back deck not frequented by passengers and he’s glad he follows the trail.  
  
Standing near the edge of the railing is Magnus posing like a rocker on stage with an instrument in hand. Alec knows a thing or two when he hears something good, however, he doesn’t recognise the song.  
  
When the music ends, he walks closer, “So you’re a master of cocktails, you do kickboxing and you play the guitar”.  
  
“It’s called a shamisen”, Magnus looks up at him with a smile that’s like the sun setting on his face. “And yes, you could say I’m a man of many talents”, he smugly answers, then asks, “Do you play?”  
  
“If I played anything, it’d be playing the fool”.  
  
Magnus does chuckle and it’s light and hearty, “Got to love your sense of humour”.

Before long, they pass the night with a game of billiard out on another deck and as it were, Magnus is truly a man of many talents for Alec hasn’t yet won a single set. But, he’s not even mad at his lost because he’s gained something of a much higher value, a lick of happiness like his finger is being dipped in a pot of joy— and just thinking this, a thrill so cunning takes over and Alec decides that he wants to hold this man and pamper him like a pearl found out at sea.    
  
“What do you do, anyway?” Magnus interrupts his thoughts, looking at him as though he already knows what Alec is thinking.  
  
“I’m a dancer”, Alec replies, then further adds, “Ballet, tap dancing— I’m into theatre”.  
  
“Oh, I see”, Magnus raises one eyebrow looking both surprised and impressed, “And you call me a man of talent”.  
  
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to share the good wealth”, Alec laughs, “But yeah, it’s something I picked up while following my mum to ballet classes”.  
  
“So you’re a mama’s boy, huh?” Magnus picks at him with a laugh.  
  
“I won’t deny it”, Alec answers, and without a doubt, he’s loving the easy rhythm he’s fallen into these past evenings nitpicking about everything with Magnus.

Really, he’d lying to himself if he continues to pretend he doesn’t know why his heart is playing like a boombox in his chest.  
  
Really, if he were to mime his feelings then he would most likely dive off the ship and land in the blue ocean with a splash. His survival— whether he sinks or floats or manage to swim to shore is another matter but for now, he’s on the edge of a ship that’s sailing in feelings and he’s about to dive.

That’s how unruly his feelings for Magnus are behaving.  
  
Yes, Alec likes Magnus a lot.  
  
But beyond all that excited desire, Alec hears a quiet voice chiding him that such feelings are too fleeting to harbour hopes of it being returned much less nurtured.  
  
Yet;  
  
“What’s your story, anyway?” Alec casually asks, pretending like it’s just another topic for topic sake.  
  
And maybe he’s mistaken but for a split second he can swear Magnus flinches at the question, and just when he thinks he wouldn’t get an answer Magnus replies, “I like the free liquor”.  
  
Alec pretends not to notice and laughs, but his gut feeling is already in full gear, well activated even as he says, “Just how much of a drunkard are you to be travelling all over the world just for free drinks?”  
  
“You would be surprised”, Magnus laughs, turning away, “Don’t underestimate the seduction of rum”.  
  
Alec keeps the laughter going but he knows it best to let the matter dissolve into oblivion.

But then Magnus really answers, “The truth is, it just happened”.  
  
“Just like that?”  
  
“Yeah, nothing life-changing or goal searching. I applied and got the job and have been doing it for almost two years now”.  
  
“And you enjoy it?” Alec asks, trembling in his tummy— happy that the moment doesn’t feel awkward.  
  
Magnus leans on the billiard table, deep in thought, “I don’t know if I enjoy it but I enjoy moments like this— meeting new people like you, and going to new places, and seeing the way the ocean looks at night when adorned with silver and how it looks under the bright sun and of course, I enjoy the free drinks”.  
  
They both laugh and make a toast with their half-done bottles of beer. By now, the sun has pretty much left them to openly frolic in the dimness on deck. It has fallen dark, but not dark enough for the stars to twinkle in abundance, but the moon is already out, crescent shaped and with its pale early evening light. Alec thinks the world living in this moment is beautiful – that imprecise moment when day wanes into night because somehow, it gives the illusion that anything is possible and that this cruise taken a whim could actually bear fruit.  
  
“So why are you all the way out here on the deep ocean all by your pretty self?” Magnus turns the table on Alec.  
  
Alec looks up at him with a thousand answers running though his mind but in the end he replies, “Soul searching”.  
  
Magnus quirks an eyebrow, “Any luck?”  
  
Taking a sip of his beer, Alec is lost in a moment of pensiveness, “Do you believe in happiness?”  
  
“What do you mean?” Magnus rests his chin on the cue stick, “Of course, happiness exists”.  
  
“I know”, Alec leans against the game table, “What I mean is, can someone be truly happy?”  
  
“Happy forever? No. That’s not possible”, Magnus answers, twisting the rings on his finger, “But I do believe in happy moments like now, being free on the ocean and travelling to different places and making memories of banquets and dancing and the people and music and”, he then turns to Alec, “Actually, I’m having a happy moment right as we speak”.

Alec looks at him with a soft smile before looking in the sky that’s drip painting with a russet sunset of purple lining in-between and as he watches, he listens to the waves lap lapping around the ship like the wings of birds flapping.  
  
Magnus walks up behind him and looks with him into the distance, “Alec, when you look that far, what do you see? A dream, maybe?”  
  
Alec swallows the last of his drink, his eyes still far out there on the horizon that has finally blurred to form a part of the sky. Stretching this hands above his head he replies, “Not so much a dream”, and his voice is low even as the sea breeze comes awake with the evening, “But things like eating good food and drinking good drinks, having long baths, travelling to near and far places, laughing, crying even when I’m happy… kissing my lover hello, good morning and good night… having sex with him –”, and here he stops, noticing that Magnus is now hip and shoulder beside him. Alec raises his beer to take another sip and on noticing it’s empty he looks over at the bar but then decides he doesn’t want to leave the warmth that Magnus is now pressing into his side.  
  
Save for the waves below and the few couples chatting about, there’s a moment of silence until, “Well, that surely is a long list but for what it’s worth…”, Magnus looks over at Alec with a grin that’s not without it’s nervousness, “I won’t stop you”.  
  
Alec’s eyes widen like a lottery player who’d just won the jackpot, a tame smile then fashions his lips as he asks, “Then tell me, how do I collect my riches?”  
  
The look Magnus gives him makes Alec heart lub-dub jump and twist. “Tell me a time and your cabin number and I’ll personally deliver it”.  
  
At ten p.m. when the moon is fairly high and casting a shimmer of silver on the ocean like a soliloquy of enchantment interwoven with mischief, the night blows chilly and from the deck, the sound of waves continue to beat pitter patter below.  
  
In Alec’s cabin suite, he and Magnus are laced in the sort of passion that has Magnus’s tongue, clumsy yet precarious in the way it secretly slips out of his mouth and very slowly and magically threatens to devour Alec down to his bone. His lips are becoming full like the moon and the more they kiss, Alec feels like a vessel being towed away on gentle waters and is being carried off to a faraway place.

But,

In this moment of happiness, a voice quietly chides, filling his head with thoughts of tomorrow that won’t pick up from today. Deep down, Alec is sure that he’ll disembark from the vessel empty-handed, left with nothing but the memory of having held Magnus and having tasted Magnus’s sweetness on his tongue and the smoothness of the wall of his mouth and the warmth Magnus has pressed into him and how the moans Magnus makes are like sounds of golden music— right then Alec realises that unless he ceases the happiness that’s less of a dream, then he would come apart screw by screw until nothing is left of him.  
  
So in the middle of their make-out session Alec stops kissing, bites down on his lower lip, hugs Magnus and rocks them both gently. Caught off guard, Magnus is looking at him with worry crinkled betwixt his eyes and it’s making him shiver.

When morning comes, Magnus steals away on tiptoes.  
  
Alec says nothing.  
  
Because,

What’s the odds of him having something like sidewalk café dates, making dinner for two, taking baths together with his lover, having breakfast in bed, bonding over quarrels and then flourishing in make-up kisses and rounds of hot make-up sex— something that’s so much a fairytale, what are his chances?  
  
After checking the clock, he notes that it’s just under two hours before the cruise is timetabled to dock in Indonesia. Sighing into the pillow, he’s already feeling a pang of regret.  
  
But then;  
  
Just as he closed his eyes Magnus flies the cabin door open and says, “You coward, you silly coward!” he fumes, “Don’t you know that the best dreams are dreamt when you’re awake?” he’s now standing over Alec, watching Alec’s eyes wide open and is speechless. “Are you really just going to lie there and cry in your pillows instead of telling me you’re an idiot and convince me to stay?”  
  
Alec isn’t sure when he got up but he’s on his feet with Magnus’s hands in his, “Magnus, come back to Brooklyn with me”.  
  
Magnus is so shocked his mouth is half open, “You want me to leave my job… my whole life and just follow you to New York?”

“Yes”, is all Alec says, watching Magnus watching him, trying to read his eyes, almost as though waiting on Alec to come to his senses. But when Alec only steps closer and looks him frank in the eye unblinking and with yearning, Magnus soon finds himself kissing Alec’s neck, replying, “OK, but only if you’ll be my sugar daddy”.

Alec laughs so hard he’s stumbling over, “Well then, it’s a good thing I’m into antiques”.  
  
“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment”, Magnus hugs him tighter around the waist and laughs with so much mirth that the entire morning feels cleansed.  
  
“Magnus, I might be a fool having fallen this much for you”.  
  
Magnus leans in and brushes his forehead against his, “Well, you know… you might just be my dream too”.  
  
Alec nods, the smile on him is so big his entire face is full of colour, “I’ve a good feeling about us, Magnus”.  
  
“Based on what?”

“Well, you came back, didn’t you?” Alec trails his fingers up and down Magnus’s neck, “I wanted you and you came to me”.  
  
Really,

The things the ocean carries and all the feelings it keeps.

Magnus smiles, his heart beating frisky against his chest, “I think this is the part where we fuck”.  
  
The sun is on Alec’s face as he flips Magnus on his back and plants himself betwixt Magnus’s legs. The heat building from his inside and is spilling out the moment they finally become one. With feelings too much and having nowhere to go, Magnus curls his toes into the sheets, his breathing shifting between shallow and heavy panting and as Alec levers down his weight on Magnus again, in laboured breaths, Magnus tells him, “Give me time until the cruise ends. I can’t just hop off and leave my job like some runaway bride. This is nice but life isn’t some fairy tale”.  
  
With is tongue trailing up Magnus’s neck, Alec asks, “Remind me of the next dock?”

“Indonesia. Bali to be specific”.

“And then?”

“Australia”.  
  
“I love koalas and kangaroos”, Alec replies, “Maybe I should adopt one of each”.  
  
“Are you serious?”  
  
“Maybe”, Alec answers with a laugh, turning his lips to press kisses down the length of Magnus’s ear, “But I’m dead serious about you”.  
  
At ten-thirty a.m, sixty minutes before the cruise makes its second stop, Magnus’s laughter falsettos into a series of moans that flow in rhythm with the morning sea and in ripples, make their way to land.  
  
.

Well Alec doesn’t get a chance to see the koalas and kangaroos in Australia.  
  
_Um? Why?_  
  
.

Magnus is in Alec’s cabin watching Alec on the phone and wondering who Alec’s talking to all bright-eyed and intimate and cheerful.  
  
Not minding at all, however, he opens the cabin window and leaves Alec to his nattering. Truth be told, if concerns were a sea of sand, then he still has a beach of doubt.  
  
In no time, should he really follow Alec and lead a different life?

Love or the idea of it is very tempting.

Which is it? Is he really in love or getting carried away with the feelings his heart is projecting on him?  
  
Until now, his entire life has been a gamble, the sort of ‘win some lose some’ chuckle but now… 

After two years of calling the ocean home, he’ll have returned to land and to a big city and will probably live in an apartment so high that he’ll be able to watch the sunset from his balcony. He’ll also need to find a new job. But the most frightening newness is the tall strapping man just a few steps away from him. In a moment Magnus can’t yet pinpoint, Alec had swept him off his feet with sweet sunset talks and warm company, and a smile that rises and sets like the sun— not to mention the intensity with which Alec held him earlier that morning, it left Magnus satisfied yet craving.  
  
“How do you like it?” Alec is showing him a picture of his apartment back in Brooklyn. “Or we could find an entirely new place if you want”.

Magnus smiles and further wraps Alec’s arms around his chest and leans back into him, “It looks expensive”.  
  
Alec chuckles and holds him tighter, “I was expecting something like, it’s clean and quiet”.  
  
“Well that too”.  
  
“And the nearest train station is only a 10 minute walk”.  
  
“That’s convenient”.  
  
“That’s New York for you and also,” he winks, “I’m your sugar daddy”.  
  
Magnus laughs, wraps Alec’s hands around him and holds them steady around his waist, “With all this fuss you’re making, it’s feels like déjà vu… like it’s my first day at kindergarten”.  
  
Alec rests his head in the crevice of Alec’s neck, “I’m asking a lot so I want you to be comfortable”, he says, drawing Magnus into a kiss – a kiss that burns warm at the tip of the lips but at the same time sends swift waves of desire and need that causes Alec’s belly to tremble and that’s when he pushes Magnus against the wall and presses against him, “How long do you have before you get back to work?”  
  
“What time is it now?”  
  
“A bit past nine”.  
  
“Can we do it in an hour?”  
  
“I’m so pent up I doubt I can last for even half of that”.  
  
In early summer somewhere out there on the Indian Ocean where the heat is unrelenting like the fires of hell are seeping out, in a tiny cabin suite, these two men lock themselves in a passion of plenty sweating and a chorus of moans that are long and deep.  
  
Then at mere minutes past nine, Alec is thrusting deep into Magnus who’s clinging tightly to the railing of the bed, his head flung back searching for any part of Alec to kiss – his eyes, his nose, his long sweaty neck and as the morning sun pours down on Magnus’s naked skin, he can no longer tell which is hotter – the summer sun or the heat Alec is stirring in him. Fighting back his moans, he bites his lips and swallows his own sweat that’s running down his face but when his sweet spot is hit, Magnus can only bury his face in the pillow, trembling with Alec betwixt him… the nerves in his fingertips tingle and his knees wobble when in a full sweep he’s hoisted and pinned to the wall of the cabin and is held there with his eyes bright like a clear day of blue skies when suddenly, everything explodes in a breathless silent scream before they both tumble in a breathless pile, hugging each other.  
  
“Time?” Magnus asks.  
  
“We only took twelve minutes”.  
  
“I have to go”, Magnus gets dressed, “See you later”.  
  
Alec slaps him on his ass, “I can’t wait”.  
  
.  
  
On the waterfront in Bali, the sun cloaks the world like a curtain unrobed from heaven— a curtain of pearly yellow lights that tints and dazzles the ocean like liquid diamonds.  
  
“Aloha!”  
  
Alec greets bug-eyed some time past lunch, wearing big and colourful neck garlands with a matching shirt and shorts with patterns of palm trees and coconuts. He finishes with a wink and a two finger salute.  
  
And as Magnus looks at him speechless and amused, the smile that neatly tickles the corner of his mouth breaks down in laughter and between trying to catch his breath he says, “Okay, one - you’ve definitely got the wrong country to ‘Aloha’ and two – who or what are you supposed to be? What’s up with those garlands?”  
  
Striking a pose, Alec replies, “They were given to me for taking part in the kacak dance”.  
  
“The what dance?”  
  
“The monkey dance”.  
  
“Oh, you mean the tari kecak”, Magnus shakes his head still in a state of amusement at Alec’s randomness, and amidst his chuckles adds, “Will I ever get tired of you?”  
  
Just that and Alec flourishes a smile so sweet as he beckons Magnus to come closer and just so, he reaches a finger out and lightly trails the tip against Magnus’s bare throat, “I won’t let that ever happen”.  
  
And it would seem that Alec means what he’d said with his whole heart and more for Alec’s mood is perhaps higher than the highest cloud. He feels floaty and at points, he feels a tad bit bothered yet excited him that on a ship, in the middle of nowhere, he’s found love.

And gods help him, he would take his time and ravish Magnus— love him whole from head to toe, inside out.  
  
.

On the evening they dock in Australia, Sydney is drenched in an orange and red sunset that spills over like paint into Port Jackson. Alec holds his breath in awe, bewitched by the wide, stretched city that snuggly hugs the far reaches of the habour and as if needing to embrace the whole continent, it sprawls the whole way towards the Blue Mountains in the west.  
  
The wind sends a chilly breath and Alec shivers, reminding him that Australia is at the start of its winter.  
  
_Love is a scary thing,_ Alec thinks to himself aloud.  
  
After all,

Not so long ago, he just very suddenly booked himself a cruise thinking he needed to go soul searching. Well, as far as his heart and senses can tell, he does find another soul; he’s found Magnus who’s distinctively piquant in taste and whether or not it’s good for his soul, that, he truly doesn’t yet know. But his gut feeling is strong, it’s so strong that he can barely get through the day without seeing Magnus’s face.  
  
So as he sits there just simply watching Magnus breathe, Alec is sure the world can’t get any prettier than this.  
  
One sunset, one drink at the bar, some words of flirting and before Alec could properly assign a name to it, he finds himself slowly drowning in what must be love. He’s still sitting a few tables from the bar watching Magnus work and with seconds feeling like an eternity, Alec grows impatient, soon hogging the stool by the counter so Magnus can clearly see him.  
  
“Did you pay all that money just to sit and watch me?” Magnus asks.  
  
“Yes”.  
  
Magnus scowls at him, “Didn’t you say you wanted to see koalas? Then why don’t you at least visit a zoo. The brochures list a bunch”.  
  
Alec dismisses the suggestion with a wave of his hand, “That’s alright, I already have the cutest koala here to look at”.  
  
“Where?”  
  
“Here”.  
  
“Here where?”  
  
“I’m staring at him”.  
  
Magnus chuckles, “Being reduced to a koala, I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a diss”.

When Magnus finally manages to chase Alec way, Alec has no choice but to pass the day by himself. But with Sydney being the city of art and culture, Alec makes his way to the grandiose Sydney Opera House. In the morning to mid-afternoon, he busies himself at the in-house Australian Ballet and comfortably takes in what he regards to be splendid performances of Don Quixote and the Merry Widow. The renditions excited him so much that he signs himself up for a three hour ballet class – an exercise he’d always found elegant and meditative, not to mention he hasn’t done it for almost two weeks now. Feeling self-pampered, he goes dining on the premises at a Mediterranean restaurant and dallies on solo in a good mood. Nearing sun down, he fancies himself with tickets to the Sydney Theatre Company before taking a stroll along Heritage Quay along Harbour Wharf where he watches the street lamps flicker on and the buildings illuminating, transforming the harbour into this fantastical hub that makes one never want to leave.  
  
But not even this splendor could distract Alec from thoughts of Magnus.

.

“What time do you get off today?” Alec asks, seating himself and ordering a corona beer.  
  
“At eight. So go ahead and have dinner without me”.  
  
“I’m skipping dinner today”.  
  
Magnus narrows his eyes at him, “Alexander, you really can’t come play bodyguard while I’m working. You stand out”.  
  
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping for”, Alec shrugs”.  
  
Perhaps it’s the way in which Magnus laughs— big and pretty but it relaxes the atmosphere in a sort of light airy feeling like that of a theme park.  It’s something Alec had noticed since the moment they met. How different they seem. Magnus is sprightly outgoing, always seeming to share a charisma of gay lightness. He’s lighthearted, easy to smile, honest and seems to come with a big heart— he’s almost Alec’s total opposite and yet, when they are together, in a mysterious whistle, they harmoniously become one and all at once, everything in life becomes less difficult.  
  
And as the evening creeps, from a corner in the bar, Alec’s eyes never leave Magnus’s face. He enjoys watching Magnus’s eyes full and expressive and memorable. His eyes continue to trace every ridge on Magnus’s face and the muscles down his neck, across his back and around his shoulders. Alec’s belly pull and then releases itself in butterfly flutters when he remembers the feeling of Magnus tight around him, hot and trembling beneath his palms and fingertips with hot air breathing from his mouth—    
  
“That smile is creepy”.  
  
Looking up at Magnus smirking at him, Alec smiles even broader, “All done?”  
  
“Yep! Let’s go”.  
  
“Okay”.  
  
“What were you grinning about?”  
  
“It’s a secret”.  
  
“Come on. Don’t be stingy”.  
  
“Later you’ll find out”.  
  
Magnus throws him a suspicious eye, “You horny rabbit”.  
  
Alec chuckles, takes Magnus’s hand and is swinging them in his, “I’m sure that makes two of us”.

.

On the last night in Australia, Alec decides that fly high or fly low, he’d spend some real quality time with Magnus off the ship. However, with staff fraternizing with passengers strictly prohibited, they plan a runaway night to a place where hopefully no one would have the time to see them. As soon as Magnus’s shift ends, they run off to Luna Park, an old fashioned amusement park along the harbour. It’s a strange place that greets guests with a gigantic face that has big red lips and eyes that laugh crazy. Upon seeing it, Magnus soon crack-ups, his laughter naturally filtering over to Alec— two grown men are standing in the middle of the entryway clinging to each other in a quiet laughter that has them trembling and bending over holding their bellies. The people passing by keep looking at them like they’re crazy displays.  
  
Once they get past that and can properly take in the scenery, it proves to be a beautiful night of clear skies and a comfortable winter chill. The park is still busy but not rowdy and it’s brightened by lights hanging everywhere and ride music at every turn and the smell of hot dog on roast and the whiff of popcorn in the air— the mood mellows and without them even realising, they’re holding hands and walking about the festivities.  
  
“What rides are you afraid of?” Magnus asks.  
  
Without thinking, Alec answers, “The drop tower”.  
  
Magnus grips Alec’s hand tighter and wickedly grins, “Then, we’ll definitely start with that one. Let’s go”.  
  
So try as Alec might to escape, he’s menacingly dragged to his ride of hell and the more terrified he gets, the more pleased Magnus seems.  
  
Alec survives the fall, but is left a giddy lunatic for the next fifteen minutes or so which sort of makes Magnus a tiny bit regretful, so for the next ride he suggests the ferris wheel.  
  
“You should’ve suggested this from the start”, Alec reprimands, still following behind Magnus.  
  
After fifteen minutes of wait, they finally get on the ferris wheel and are high enough to take in the night view of the waterfront city. The harbour bridge dazzles in the near distance and the city skyline breaks at artful angles. Not very far too, is the giant cruise liner that’s steady in the midst of the shimmering night harbour water.  
  
“It’s almost time to get back and clock in”, Magnus reluctantly adds.  
  
“Yeah”, Alec answers with a nod.  
  
Magnus turns to Alec and looks at him, “Sorry, we couldn’t have more time together”.  
  
“Did you want to spend more time with me?”  
  
Magnus doesn’t look away, “What do you think?”  
  
Alec hesitates, tightening his lips while looking at Magnus frank in the eyes, “I’m afraid of you”.  
  
“You’re afraid of me?” Magnus’s forehead crinkles in curiosity, his gaze fixed, betraying nothing. “Why would you?”  
  
“Why? Good question”, Alec inhales, looking out at the night before him, “I mean, I’ve known you for less than a month and already I want to spend a lifetime with you. Isn’t that scary?”  
  
Their gondola becomes silent, lending ear and attention to the annual winter festival of lights— the Vivid Sydney Festival that transforms the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge into a canvas of art along Circular Quay and the far reaches of the harbour. But, Alec is only paying attention to Magnus, nervously waiting for his reply.  
  
“No, it isn’t”, Magnus answers at last, brushing is toes against Alec’s, “It’s not scary since you’re not the only one”.  
  
Words seem to escape Alec for all he can reply with is a relieved smile that crafts his face but then very suddenly, he flings himself across and swallows Magnus in a kiss. The gondola makes a violent tilt, but the only danger these two men feel is the peppery feeling in their chests.  
  
“Magnus,” Alec breathes into his mouth, “I need you”.

Magnus kisses him back, full mouth and breathless, “I need you too”.  
  
Back in Alec’s cabin, Magnus spreads himself across the bed like an all you can eat buffet which pretty much leaves Alec salivating at taking in the sumptuous meal beneath him. However, it’s only after what feels like an eternity to Magnus who’s already leaking that he shamelessly asks, “So are we going to fuck or do you intend to drool all night instead?”  
  
Alec laughs, “I’ve noticed something”, he says, his eyes crinkled around the edges in rosy glee.

“What?” Magnus wraps his arms around him.

“When you’re horny you really lack class”.  
  
Magnus tightens his legs around him, “Well, no matter how you put it, sex is messy dirty business”.  
  
Rubbing against Magnus’s groin, Alec comebacks, “And I’m all set and ready to sail and invade your seven seas”.  
  
So when Alec pushes inside, Magnus breathes in and exhales in an ecstasy that Alec has now come to masterfully understand and from there, their movements continue slow and generous like tiny ripples gathering in a deep lake.  
  
“Magnus, how are you feeling?” Alec asks, his eyes are very warm and very soft but have the strangest gloss like he’s about to cry.  
  
So Magnus reaches both hands up, cups his cheeks, smiles and replies, “Like a ripe juicy mango ready to be picked”.  
  
And Alec chuckles, the love in his heart radiating to his fingers and reaching the tip of toes, “Don’t make me cum before I intend to”.

“And just when do you intend to?” Magnus teases, he’s on his side, one leg thrown over Alec’s shoulder.  
  
Alec sucks in a breath and slowly releases, “As long as possible”, the words spilling from his mouth like a poem of song.  “Magnus, I’m afraid I can’t get enough of you”.  
  
“Well…”, Magnus replies half dazed, with a smile, “That’s because I’m magical”.  
  
Alec laughs into the kiss— dozens of long, wet and sloppy drags of kisses that only seem to stir more chaos when Magnus leans over and offers more of his body and his heart and the soul Alec is searching for.  
  
Then comes the trickle and then follows the release and then the final moment that’s unbearably saccharine.  
  
“Alexander, no matter what happens, I’m happy I met you”.  
  
Alec kisses his forehead and cuddles him close, “Me too”.

But;

After nearly a full day without seeing Magnus onboard, Alec goes to reception and asks, “Excuse me, can you tell me where to find the bartender, Magnus?”  
  
“Magnus Bane?” the woman looks at him and he can already see the apology in her eyes, “I’m sorry, Sir but Mr. Bane’s contract ended in Australia”.  
  
“…”

_“No matter what happens, I’m happy I met you”._

At the initial realisation, Alec laughs to— no, laughs at himself.

After all,

It isn’t totally unexpected.

The good and the bad considered, Magnus might’ve really loved him, but love— just look out at the ocean, the sunset is a string of splattered orange… it’s beautiful but it’s also messy and looks so hot like an unpredictable wild fire. Alec finds himself laughing again but this time, terribly cynical, because really, what did he expect chasing a man he’d just met in the middle of nowhere?  
  
And even if Magnus does return his love – which Alec genuinely believes he does, Alec thinks himself to be an arrogant man to have thought that he’s worth giving up everything for. What man in his sane mind would leave his job and the freedom of the sea to be with him?  
  
No one in their sensible mind would do such a thing.  
  
Besides, something like a cruise romance happens all the time— it offers comfort but in the end, it’s fleeting. So really, with a strong looking man like Magnus who’s blessed with good looks and charisma, what made Alec think he’s more deserving of true happiness than anyone else?  
  
What stupidity?!  
  
What wishful thinking!  
  
Walking back to his cabin, Alec’s mind is a mess as he replays his and Magnus’s last moments together when at sudden intervals, he remembers ~ “ _ahh_ _yes, I need to contact that kickboxing gym back in Brooklyn where I’d made appointments for Magnus… and I guess I no longer need to clear out that extra bedroom, I should call the cleaners and cancel…_ ”.  
  
To think that Magnus left him even before he’d come to him, Alec groans as if the weight of the world is mercilessly nailed to his shoulders. Perhaps it’s the shock of it all but Alec is still in disbelief that his dream had turned into a nightmare.  
  
Going back to his cabin, the silence is menacing and that’s truly when Alec accepts that he’s really alone.  
  
He’s alone again.  
  
Perhaps, he was always alone.  
  
So just like before, he needs to get back to the life he had before the impossible dream happened. But just when he falls to the floor and is about to start weeping, he nearly chokes on his own hiccup at seeing Magnus cuddled in a corner, his knees pulled to chest and his face buried in his hands, almost as though he’s afraid to look up.  
  
Beyond himself, in a nervous manner, Alec starts to wipe away his tears.  
  
“You’re here”, is the first thing he says, “I thought you’d left me”.

Magnus slowly looks up at him, eyes red and wet and heavy, “Almost. I almost did”.  

“Why didn’t you?” he asks, stepping closer, his emotions are high, constantly switching between relief and apprehension.  
  
“Alexander, you’re a beautiful mystery but I lied when I said you weren’t scary. You are scary. I woke up and realised that I really love you and I want to discover all of you and everything with you. But it’s all too scary. Loving is scary. Just suppose one day you hurt me? What will I do? If in three weeks I’ve come to love you this much then what will happen in four weeks or in two months or a half a year and oh-goodness, what’s going to happen in a few years? I’ll never recover. You love me and I love you but this is life and in life shit happens and—” he pauses to take in a series of breaths, “But in the end, I still want you. I still want to be your dream”.

And Alec is just standing there, forehead creasing and is shifting his weight from his left to his right, “Magnus, then what are you saying?”  
  
“I’m saying…”, Magnus gets up and stands in front of him, “I still don’t know if this is wise or stupid but I’ve made up my mind and I’m now willing to risk it all to be with you and I hope, you’ll risk it all with me too”.  
  
Really,

If relief had a face, it would probably look a lot like Alec’s. “So, are you saying you choose me?”  
  
“Yes”, Magnus steps even closer, “My heart had chosen you the second my eyes caught sight of you”.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
So Magnus withdraws slightly, flicks Alec’s nose with his thumb then says, “You still haven’t figured it out, have you?”

Alec winces at the pinch, “Figured what out?”  
  
_“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?”_  
  
_To be honest, it isn’t a pretty sunset…_  
  
_“Really?” he turns around and answers, but is startled to see a man with a flush the colour of summer’s fading sun, “I don’t think so, though”._  
  
_“I’m not talking about the sunset”._  
  
_“Then, what are you –?”_  
  
_The man smiles and says, “Let’s keep it a secret till another time”._

“Alexander, don’t you see?” Magnus tenderly holds Alec and is looking at him warm and soft in the eye, “I loved you first”.  
  
Really…

These two…

At Magnus’s confession, they hug each other so tight without any intention of letting go.

And perhaps,

If Alec could show Magnus what’s inside his heart then chances are, he most definitely wouldn’t let him see.  
  
And why is that?  
  
Because, the amount of love Alec has cooking up in there is—  
  
“Magnus…”  
  
“Um?”  
  
“I love you more than all the koalas and kangaroos on the planet”.  
  
“…”  
  
Magnus nearly chokes on his own guffaw.  
  
He laughs so hard while tackling Alec around the waist and pulling him down on the bed and around and round they roll into this comfortable bolster that’s so very warm and comfortable like those moonshine nights and pearly yellow days when they were utterly the two—

“Alexander?”

“Yes?”

“When did you become my sunset?”

The smile on Alec grows bright like colours and lights are gently falling from the sky and sprinkling on his face, “You may never know”.

And as Magnus stands on the deck humming in thought, Brooklyn Bridge draws near like a water painting coloured by sunset. He then smiles, hugging Alec around the waist and replies, “That’s fine. It doesn’t make even a tiny difference”.

For as it were,

All sorts of strange things get washed ashore; seashells and broken corals, stones chipped and shaped by the waves, dried fruits, driftwood and many times, people— like two queers on a cruise.

\---

_magnus x alec[](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Shadowhunters?src=hash)_

**Author's Note:**

> I still can't believe I wrote such a long fic with only 2 characters ><
> 
> I've been playing with the idea of this AU for a while now, so I hope you enjoyed reading. Do let me know XD


End file.
